


What Should Have Happened at the Dock

by C_123



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: 3x21-22, Angst, M/M, Nygmobblepot, Rewrite, Season 3 Finale, dock scene, this is how it should have gone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 18:35:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11110458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_123/pseuds/C_123
Summary: Spoiler sort of: Set in the final episode of season 3, this is a rewrite of the dock scene between Ed and Oswald (since the writers made Ed an ice cube.) Enjoy this happier version





	What Should Have Happened at the Dock

**Author's Note:**

  * For [My sister who gave me her account](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=My+sister+who+gave+me+her+account).



> I wrote this because the finale left me feeling SO UNSATISFIED, i should have known the writers weren't giving us nygmobblepot. not yet anyways, maybe next season but we have to wait for that :(

This was it- the end of the line. Oswald had won, and Edward didn’t see a way out of this situation. His face was one of complete shock, and then defeat. He had been outsmarted, outmatched. Oswald stepped closer. “I know you Ed,” he said, explaining his reasoning. “I may be driven by my emotions, but you are driven by something much more predictable- a desperate and compulsive need to complete what you’ve started in exacting fashion.” He had a calm look about him, one that contrasted his gloating in the car. The time for glee was over. Oswald’s words were calculated, and his facial expressions were even remorseful, despite the flash of a smile at the end of his sentence. Edward broke eye contact, needing a moment to process the turn of events.

Time seemed to slow down for Edward as his opponent’s words fully sunk in. All of this time he had thought of Oswald as incapable of strategic thought, a man who relied entirely on his emotions to lead his actions. He had considered him inferior in most ways. Despite being a good friend and the longtime kingpin of the underworld, Oswald had nothing else to offer. ‘A spoiled child’ he had called him. He had never thought of him as being on the same intellectual level, and Edward’s overconfidence would be his downfall, because in truth Oswald was a highly complicated man capable of manipulating people and using his emotion in combination with strategy to achieve what he wanted. He was far more complex than Ed had given him credit for.

Oswald was a riddle that he was yet to Solve.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Oswald asked. Edward glanced back at him with a pained expression, and his lips parted but no words came out. Oswald grew impatient, asking again, “Edward?” Ed turned the words over and over in his mind. I know you. Oswald knew him. The intimacy of someone else being inside his mind caught him off guard. For the first time, Ed saw himself as being equally matched. He was understood by someone, someone who saw him for what he was and still loved him, or at least did once. He suddenly wished they could go back to that time for just the friendship they shared, but he knew such thinking was pointless, and besides, Oswald didn’t really know him then as he did now. He was selfish and unwilling to sacrifice his own happiness. He was naïve and infatuated, nothing more. Even so, Edward knew a lot had changed since then. He remembered that night he had left Oswald on the hood of that car to die. His words to Oswald made a difference in him. When Barbara, Tabitha, and Butch threatened his life if he didn’t give up Ed, he had refused. Oswald was not as predictable as Edward had liked to believe. 

All things considered, it didn’t matter now. Just moments ago, Ed was ready to pull the trigger and dump Oswald in the river, and there was no way Oswald was relenting. After all, he was still an emotional man, even if he could outsmart Ed, and his ego wouldn’t allow him to let Ed go free. Oswald was still staring intently at him when something neither of them expected to happen occurred- a tear fell down Ed’s cheek. Slight confusion registered on Oswald’s face. Ed didn’t seem like the type to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him vulnerable like this, let alone someone he had just tried to kill. He didn’t expect Ed’s pride to give way to any fear for his life or frustration from losing. But then confusion was replaced by a small smile. It was hard not to enjoy this when not so long ago the tables were turned completely. He never got tired of being on top. What Oswald didn’t know was that these were not tears of fear or frustration, but rather genuine sadness. It had taken Edward this long to realize what Oswald was. His life had never been an easy one, but now more than ever he wished he could just be happy. He could have spent it with a companion, someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of. In another life, they could be together as friends, or maybe even something more, if only Oswald had never given way to his own selfishness and greed and-

Wait- that’s right. Oswald had done this. He was the reason things played out the way they did. He had killed Isabella and he was to blame. As much as Edward wanted to move past this, his conscience would never allow him. Things like that couldn’t just be forgiven.

But Oswald had changed. It was possible for people to change, even someone like Oswald. If he was truly willing to make sacrifices now, he was capable of love. The option to sacrifice his happiness that was once presented with Isabella wasn’t applicable anymore, but there was a sacrifice Oswald could make right here and now. It would never happen, but if he was willing to set aside his pride and anger and resentment and let Ed go, then perhaps there was hope after all.

Edward swallowed and chose his words carefully, meeting Oswald’s gaze. “You’ve beaten me. I concede, you are much more than I expected. I underestimated you. Oswald. You and I,” he paused, trailing off. Oswald looked perplexed, expecting anything other than Ed to give him credit. Maybe it was an act, and he was trying to play on his emotions in an attempt to convince Oswald to let him off the hook. That wouldn’t work. Ed raised his hand slowly, until it met Oswald’s cheek. They both remembered a similar scene, when Oswald’s bound hands had reached for Ed only to be met with a gunshot and a supposed watery death. But Oswald made no move to knock the hand away. He didn’t know why but he felt compelled to let this moment pass uninterrupted. “We’re… more alike than I had thought.” And with that, Ed’s hand fell and he straightened up. He raised his chin and looked Oswald directly in the eye, and Oswald knew that he was done talking. He was ready. Ivy’s voice echoed down the dock from behind them. “You ready, Pengy?” Oswald glanced behind and noticed Victor Fries readying his weapon, waiting for him to step away and give the command to immobilize Ed and capture this moment in an icy prison. 

Oswald stepped back hesitantly. “I love you, Oswald. I didn’t then, but I see you know. Kill me, I don’t care, but remember- You need me just as I need you.” Oswald recognized those words, said again at these docks. Those were the words he himself had said. These past months, all he had wanted was to kill Ed Nygma. He had pictured this moment a thousand times, but the satisfaction he had expected was nowhere to be found. The only thing he felt was sadness. If only Ed could have loved him back… if only he was enough for Ed. If only he had never made that mistake in killing Isabella. Had circumstances been different, the two could have been together, even only as friends. You know as well as I that a man facing death will say anything to save his skin. Ed’s past words echoed in his mind. But Edward was not the type of man to make excuses and set aside his dignity. No, if he said these things, he meant them.

And in that moment they both realized how similar they were. Both of them only wanted things to be different, yet had spent so long unwilling to change them. Neither of them wanted this. Neither of them wanted to kill the other, but they felt they needed to. Oswald had killed Isabella, so he had to die. Edward had attempted to kill Oswald (twice), so he had to die. If only they could just set aside the past and be happy… But that couldn’t happen. They both stood holding back tears, only thinking of a time when they were on the same side. They were tired of opposing each other. This was going to end now, one way or the other.

And so Oswald made a decision.

“WAIT!” He glanced behind him and saw Fries lower his weapon with an expectant and questioning expression. Edward’s eyes squinted in confusion, but he refused to move. All eyes were on Oswald, who stepped forward slowly, searching for words. “I… um…just wanted…” He stepped closer to Ed, refusing to look him in the eyes, until they were only inches apart. He took a deep breath and looked up at him. Edward said nothing, but up close Oswald could see he was shaking. A moment passed before Oswald moved his hand slowly to the back of Edwards head. At first, Ed hesitantly pulled back, but then Oswald moved closer until their faces were inches apart. Edward closed the distance between their lips, and the two of them stood shaking and crying in an awkward kiss, their arms wrapped around each other until it melted into an embrace. When Oswald pulled away, he met Edwards teary eyes one last time. “We will meet again,” he said with unwavering certainty, and then he turned around and walked away, signaling for Ivy and Fries to follow him. He didn’t look back once as he left, wondering if he had made a mistake in letting Edward Nygma live. But it didn’t matter. It was done now. He had won anyways, and chosen to let him go. He didn’t have to look behind him to know Edward was still standing there, unable to move, crying.

For now, Oswald planned to ignore him. Hopefully Ed would leave Gotham or stay off the radar. He knew they both needed time to fully recover from the damage their relationship caused. But maybe, someday, they’d be ok, and they’d see each other again.


End file.
